Garbage dumped inside GND Hospital puts patients at risk

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 4

With the garbage-collection system collapsing in the city in view of the Bhagtanwala dump row, heaps of waste are mounting at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, posing a serious health threat to the patients.

Even as lifting of garbage from the hospital premises was irregular earlier also, the present crisis has aggravated the problem.

The employees at the hospital said no garbage had been lifted from the hospital for the past many days. The garbage generated at the hospital was dumped near the outer wall of the hospital. From there on, it was the duty of the Municipal Corporation to transport the waste to disposal sites. A visit to the hospital revealed that the biomedical waste was getting mixed with other waste materials at the dumping site. As per norms, the biomedical waste requires segregation at the point of generation. “The dumping site is alongside the passage to Bebe Nanki Mother and Child Care Centre and various other wards. It does not look appropriate for a hospital to have such a large garbage heap inside it,” said an employee.

A visitor, Balkar Singh said, “Most of the diseases are generally associated with the lack of cleanliness and hygiene. But it is disheartening to see that a reputed institute established to cure diseases is itself grappling with the problem of garbage heaps.” Meanwhile, the hospital authorities stated that lifting of garbage was the duty of the Municipal Corporation and they had requested it to dispose of the garbage daily.